Fashion shows a hallmark of this group

“Is this the last fashion show of the season?” someone asked at the Venice Nokomis Woman’s Club Fashion Show. “No,” was the reply.

Fashion shows are super fundraisers for nonprofits in Venice. They are fun, profitable and a lot of work. The Fashion Showcase Program lists 42 volunteers who worked on the show. These women started months in advance planning, assigning tasks and working during the event. They deserve a nice pat on the back. The Venice-Nokomis Woman’s Club fashion show is a message of community love. The list of sponsors and donors for prizes is long. The list of contributing artists includes many Art Center teachers.

Painted clothing was a popular silent auction item at the show, including a one-size-fitsall jacket painted by Venice Art Center Director Mary Moscatelli.

The 10 retailers who brought their clothes to the event deserve kudos as do the models. This Fashion Showcase is a community event.

The Venice-Nokomis Woman’s Club is 98 years young and already planning a 100 anniversary gala.

The club is visible in Venice handing out water at Christmas in July. They decorate a tree at Blalock Park at Christmas. Members don’t mind being covered in paint and glue when they volunteer at Family Fun Day at the Venice Art Center.

This year, they held a fun wine tasting at the Art Center.

The group enjoys its outreach and most importantly fostering friendships among its members.

They welcome all women to join. For information, visit venice-nokomiswomansclub.org Thank you, Venice-Nokomis Woman’s Club, for blessing Venice. We look forward to 98 more years.

ONE OF OUR BEST

The special person of this week is Lueanne Wood, who supports the Venice Art Center and other venues in Venice. Lueanne’s thumbprint is a hallmark in Venice.

When the Art Center needed wine glasses and cloth napkins, Lueanne showed up. When Family Fun Day needed water, Lueanne showed up.

When the pantries need donations, Lueanne shows up. When the 180 House needed help, Lueanne was there. She makes many events a little more fun with her champagne donations.

She is usually on hand to help at the event. Lueanne is friendly and fun. She values friends and cherishes friendships. She is always ready to help. Lueanne doesn’t wait to be asked. She offers.

Lueanne Wood is one of the women who makes Venice a great place to live.

These models showcased clothes from various terrific Venice stores that shoppers love. The stores represented at the Venice Nokomis Woman’s Club fashion show were Abode, Island Way Boutique, Krystyna’s Designs, Nest Venice, Patchington, Posh, Scarlet Macaw Resort Ware, Seaside Chic Boutique and Venice in Vogue Boutique. The program mentioned a special thanks to Lisa’s Classic Rose.

Marla Salezze, left, program director for theVenice Art Center, and Mary Moscatelli were happy that theVenice NokomisWoman’s Club fashion show would benefit student programs at the Venice Art Center. Mary is the executive director of the Venice Art Center.

Old friends Lueanne Wood, left, and Linda Conrad enjoy the Venice Nokomis Woman’s Club fashion show. Lueanne provided the champagne for the event.

Karen Phillips, left, is wearing a hand-painted dress she modeled in the Venice Nokomis Woman’s Club fashion show. The artist Lisa Cavalea is starting her new business of hand-painted clothing.

In November, 2021 I undertook a major project in MacArthur Beach & Racquet Club on the beach in Venice, Florida.

Along with my assistants and a team of local tradespeople, we transformed a dated condo in only 42 days. We began by repainting the golden yellow interior – including walls, ceilings, doors, and trim – a fresh, warm off-white.

The results speak for themselves. What was once a well-loved but dark and crowded condo is now a light-filled family retreat that comfortably sleeps 8-10 people.

Click HERE to see detailed PDF on this project.

Let me know how I can help you realize your real estate dreams!

PanaSea – Artist Francine Smetts, Sponsored by Lueanne Wood, PA

#Fantaseavenice
www.FantaSeaVenice.com

FantaSea is the Venice Art Center’s Public Art Project. There are 52 seahorses and mermaids displayed throughout Mainstreet and Downtown Venice. Each sculpture is sponsored by a business and an artist is commissioned to design and bring these sculptures to life. They will be on display for 2 years then auctioned as a fund raiser for the Venice Art Center.

PanaSea is Lueanne Wood, PA’s seahorse. PanaSea was designed by artist Francine Smetts. Francine recieved her BFA from Center College of Design, Los Angeles. She has worked in the fields of fashion, editorial illustration and Children’s book illustration. Her interet in the theatre has eld to set and costume design for live productions. Francine works in many mediums: Graphite, acrylic, and oils as well as three dimensional work. She enjoys the outdoors and lives on a farm with her cows, horse, donkey, and a very patient husband.

Take a stroll downtown Venice and check out all of the beautiful seahorses and mermaids. PanaSea was located on the corner of Nassua Street and W. Venice Avenue.

 PEOPLES MAGAZINE NYC 9/2/1985

Six-year-old Vanessa Agard-Jones has 75 and likes them because “when it’s very quiet they make a lot of noise.” Debbie Feldheim, 7, lets her dolls play with them, while her sister, Rachel, 10, thinks they’re “neat, and I like to have things my friends have.” They’re talking about charms, this season’s hot-selling answer to Cabbage Patch Kids and Deely
Bobbers.

The colorful plastic baubles first began dangling around the necks of young girls several months ago in New York and other big cities and are now finding their way to suburban shopping malls. Made mostly in Taiwan, the necklaces, with a dozen charms, retail at $3 to $8, and individual charms cost 50 cents and up. Of the more than 100 fanciful ornaments to choose from, favorites include baby bottles, whistles, toilet bowls with moveable rims, blow-dryers, ballet slippers and earphones.

“The great thing is that kids don’t just buy one charm-but lots of them,” says one distributor, who shipped nearly half a million charms in July and August. “They’re like baseball cards. A child can’t have too many. The more she has, the more she wants.”

The life span of the fad may be fleeting. Few think they’ll jingle past the Christmas season. But New York’s Lueanne Wood, a charm distributor: may have hit upon an alternative to the children’s market. Rufus, her Boston terrier, sports a necklace with 23 charms. ”When I walk down Park Avenue, 15 people a day ask me where I got the necklace,” she says. The dog days of charms may yet be upon us.